Apparatus for conveying ingots and the like



Dec. 29, 1959 c s 2,919,125

APPARATUS FOR CONVEYING INGOTS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 15, 1957 v i 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 29, 1959 F. KocKs 2,919,125

APPARATUS FOR CONVEYING INGOTS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 15, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jl All United States Patent 2,919,125 7 APPARATUS FOR CONVEYING INGOTS. AND THE LIKE Friedrich Kocks, Dusseldorf, Germany Application January 15, 1957, Serial No. 634,290 Claims priority, application Germany January 17, 1956 1 Claim. (Cl. 2'66-5) For the purpose of hot working ingots or slabs which have been cast in chill moulds in steelworks, co-ordination between the casting of the ingots and the ingot rolling mill or other hot working machines has heretofore been arranged in such a way that the ingots or slabs are stripped after standing for some time afer being cast and are then conveyed to soaking pits loacted near the ingot rolling or blooming mill or other machine. pared in these pits thermally for the subsequent rolling or other hot working operation. As the stripping and the conveyance to the soaking pits takes a considerable length of time, not infrequently several hours, the ingot, which has meanwhile cooled down considerably, must be heated in the soaking pits and brought up to the rolling temperature. Soaking pits suitable for such heating are extensive installations, the maintenance and operation of which are costly. The reheating of the ingots results in considerable loss or waste due to a scale formation through which the surface of the ingots themselves is unfavourably affected. Finally, the operation of soaking pits involves extensive crane work in placing the ingots in the pits and later removing them again.

The present invention is based on recognition of the fact that considerable economy in plant and consumption of heat, can be effected in the operation of the steel works if it is possible to introduce the ingot cast in the chill mould into hot working machines while it still has its original heat or nearly all its original heat. This is possible only if the ingot is conveyed, as soon as it begins to solidify in the chill mould, to the hot working machines as quickly as possible and during conveyance is objected to a treatment like that carried out in a pit heating furnace or soaking pit.

To this end, according to the present invention, the mould is stripped from the steel ingot, slab or the like and the ingot is charged directly into a horizontally extending heated chamber which is rotatable about a longitudinal axis and is mounted on a wheeled carriage after which the chamber is rotated slowly and is moved to the machine and the ingot is unloaded from the chamber directly to the machine.

The chamber structure for carrying this method into effect preferably consists of a drum-shaped vessel lined with refractory material enclosing a chamber having a cross-section which provides a small clearance around the cross-section of an ingot to be accommodated in the chamber, the drum having closing means at each end and being mounted on a wheeled carriage so that it is rotatable about its longitudinal axis.

Owing to the fact that the ingot contained in the chill mould is stripped and introduced into the space in the preferably preheated rotary chamber, corresponding substantially to its cross-section, as early as possible and that the rotary chamber is closed at both end faces and set in slow rotation, the temperature of the ingot is equalized evenly throughout the entire cross-section during its conveyance to the rolling mill, or other hot working machine.

The ingots are pre- 2,919,125 Patented Dec. 29, 1 99 In fact practically no heat is lost to the outside, so that the ingot arrives at the rolling mill at a temperature which permits its immediate use. During the rotation of the rotary chamber, a continuous tilting of the ingot takes place so that the side surfaces of the ingot remain incontact with the bottom of the chamber for only a short time in each case. The clearance space in the rotary chamber around the cross-section of the ingot is preferably filled With a protective gas or such a gas may be constantly circulated around the ingot. Scale-free ingots are obtained in this way. In view of the horizontal position of the travelling equalizing chamber, the discharging operation can be carried out simply by means of a stationary ejector, which pushes the ingot out of the chamber for example on to the roller bed of the rolling mill.

In order to protect the refractory lining of the travelling chamber, slide or guide rails or bars made of highly wear-resistant refractory and heat-resistant material which extend parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cham' her or transversely thereof may be built into the lining. The truck for the chamber can be equipped with a support which rotates in trunnions and the drum-shaped body is carried on the support so that it is rotatable about its longitudinal axis. In order to compensate for differences in height between the bottom of the chamber and surface on to which the ingot is unloaded, for example the roller bed of an ingot rolling mill, the sup- 'port is preferably constructed so that it can be raised and lowered. The truck, on which several chambers may be arranged, preferably runs on a standard gauge railway track.

The chamber is preferably preheated before the ingot is charged into it, and to do this the truck is moved in front of a collective or common pipe equipped with burners which are adapted to be swung out and which are operated by blast furnace or coke oven gas. A similar heating gas pipe provided with burners may be located, for example, in the vicinity of the rolling mill, where the charged furnaces can then be maintained at the proper temperature until they are unloaded to fit in with the operation of the rolling mill.

The method and the apparatus according to this invention are independent in themselves of the length and the cross-section of the ingots. Several ingots of small or medium size can be inserted in the travelling chamber.

However, the method and the apparatus according to this invention are particularly suitable for handling long ingots, that is ingots of about twice the length usual or of even greater length. Up to now, it has not been possible to cast and work ingots of such length, because they could not be accommodated in soaking pits of conventional type and also could not be handled by existing stripping cranes. According to the proposals of the invention, however, even extremely long ingots can now be pushed directly into the travelling chamber by means of structurally simple ejectors and be extracted from the chamber at the rolling mill by a similar device. As is well known, considerable advantages, such as it has also been desired to achieve by means of the continuous casting process, which cannot yet be fully controlled today, are associated with the production of ingots of far greater length than heretofore. These advantages include a substantially reduced scrap loss and thus of a corresponding increase in the production of ingots.

Apparatus for carrying the method of the invention into effect is illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a longitudinal sectional view of a wheeled carriage and heated chamber in accordance with the invention,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view transversely thereof, and

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic plan view showing how the method of the invention is carried into elfect.

Referring to the drawing, the ingot 4 to be kept hot is introduced into a heated chamber of a chamber structure or container 1, which is lined with refractory material and provided with end closures 2 and guide rails 3. The chamber structure 1 is supported with its bands 5 on rollers 6 so as to be freely rotatable about its horizontal axis. The rollers 6 are connected to the upper part of a turntable 7, which consists of four parts and by means of which the chamber 1 can be turned about its vertical axis. The motor for driving the turntable is not illustrated.

The heated chamber 1 and parts associated with it are mounted on a carriage 8 having wheels 12. The height of the chamber can be adjusted by means of a pinion 9, threaded spindles 10 and wedges 11. The pinion is driven by a motor which is not illustrated. The wheels 12 of the carriage 8 are of standard gauge. The heating medium, for example hot gases, for the chamber 1 flows in the direction indicated by the arrows A and B in Fig. 1.

Referring now to Fig. 3, the cast ingots 4 are introduced into the preheated chamber of the structure 1 by means of a tilting device 14 and a pusher 13. The carriage 8 with the chamber structure 1 is then driven in direction of the arrow C on rails 15 of standard gauge from the steelworks I to the rolling mill II, which is in a neighbouring building. In the latter, shortly before arriving at the train of rolls, the chamber lis turned through an angle of 90 on its carriage into the position 16. If necessary, the chamber when in this position can be connected to a source of heat 17. The chamber then arrives in front of a conveyor 18 leading to the rolls 20 of the rolling mill, the chamber being adjusted to the height of the conveyor 18. The ingot is then pushed on to the conveyor 18 by the pusher 19 and delivered to the rolls 20. After this the chamber 1 is returned to its original position by the turntable 21 and rails 15 along a circuit indicated by the arrows D, E and F. Before being re-charged the chamber 1 can be connected to a source of heat 22.

What I claim is:

A device for conveying a, hot steel ingot, or the like and for equalizing the temperature inside the ingot while said ingot is being conveyed, said device comprising a main frame having wheels and being adapted to run on a rail track, an auxiliary frame guided in said main frame, a platform revolubly mounted on said auxiliary frame, means for raising and lowering said auxiliary frame, a chamber substantially horizontally mounted on said platform, means to rotate said chamber about its horizontal axis, said chamber being lined with refractory material, the shape of said chamber being substantially similar to the shape of the ingot and having a cross section and length exceeding the cross section and length of the ingot, substantially horizontal bars of wear resistant and heat resistant material disposed on and distributed over the internal container surfaces surrounding said chamber, said bars surrounding said ingot over its entire circumference and being adapted to support the ingot at any angular position of said rotatable container, said container having at least one opening giving access to said chamber, means operable to close said opening, means for introducing heat medium into said chamber, means for removing heat medium from said chamber and a source of supply of heat medium, connected with said means for introducing heat medium.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 240,037 Pernot Apr. 12, 1881 278,512 Critchlow May 2 9, 18 83 822,460 Machlet June 5, 1906 1,171,144 Ruggles Feb. 8, 1916 1,498,515 Knopf June 17, 1924 2,137,040 Woodson 1..-... Nov. 15, 1938 2,240,863 Scullen May 6, 1941 2,832,700 Balestra Apr. 29, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 3,807 Great Britain Aug. 10, 1882 

